The present disclosure relates generally to a method and system for facilitating wireless transactions using a wireless device and, more particularly, a method and system that integrates a wireless adjunct device into a high security environment for simultaneous management and manipulation of a single wireless device and one or more user accounts via a unique identification number of the wireless adjunct device, such as the MDN and/or MSISDN.
The system and method disclosed herein find particular application in conjunction with banking or other financial transactions conducted with a financial institution and will be described primarily with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the system and method herein are amenable to all manner of financial and non-financial transactions between a customer and a service provider using a wireless device, including, without limitation, transactions in the fields of banking, finance, health care, multimedia entertainment, and so forth.
Economic activity increases as advances in banking and payment systems are developed. Ubiquitous wireless devices (including telephones) demonstrate potential for a new paradigm in banking and payments. Both consumers and financial institutions desire secure, cost reducing, convenience enhancing wireless mobile banking and payment systems.
Currently, most mobile financial service processes involve complex executable software that must be designed for all equipment on all platforms. Other available transactions schemes pass sensitive data amongst multiple parties that may or may not exhibit due care. Convenience suffers with design requirements for multiple accounts across multiple platforms. Also, would-be service providers, and financial institutions, currently design systems and processes for multiple devices across multiple communications platforms.
Typically, to deliver mobile financial services, a financial institution, such as a national bank, develops proprietary software to conduct financial transactions on wireless mobile telephones. Since consumers own myriad handset models produced by many manufacturers and registered with multiple carriers potentially operating on multiple wireless or cellular technologies (e.g., GSM, CDMA, TDMA, WiMax, WiFi, etc.), banks must develop such software so that it conveniently downloads and operates within hundreds of different problem sets. Further, the bank must develop such software so that it executes properly in several development environments (e.g., Java, Brew, J2ME, OFX, and others) and across several different telephone carriers (e.g., AT&T, Sprint, and so forth). See Tompkins et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. US2007/0053518. This remains the case whether designing a financial product specifically involving, but not limited to, banking, payments, insurance, wagering, foreign remittance, brokerage, health care, health care savings, payroll or other type or style of account.
Another drawback in the current art beside the need to develop cross-carrier, cross-device, cross-platform transactional software is the need for carrier approval, both prior and ongoing, to place executable software on handsets that access their respective networks. Such permission is obtained, often at great cost, at the pleasure of the carrier.
Another drawback of known systems, beyond carrier assent and cross-development, is the need to conveniently distribute such software to account holders in versions appropriate for their particular handset, and to train consumers in how to download and operate the software.
Furthermore, transactional and data security pass through many hands in the current state of the art. Once operable on the handset, the software, in order to execute financial transactions, must often pass instructions through a software development firm's servers, through other service provider servers for management and storage and transmission, and others, in order for the national bank to settle financial transactions. See Viijoen, U.S. Patent Publication No. US2005/0038744.
Other attempted prior art wireless mobile financial transaction solutions involve the use of SMS messages. One advantage of using SMS for delivering financial transaction capability is that it successfully interacts with all wireless devices and requires no handset-based executable software or carrier assent to utilize. However, SMS messages cost money to send and receive, are susceptible to electronic “listening,” suffer from latency time-out issues, lack confirmation of delivery to an intended recipient, as well as identity verification problems where the receiver or sender is never 100% sure of the other's identity. See Dodin, U.S. Patent Publication No. US2007/0203836. Another drawback to the use of SMS messages for mobile financial transaction is that SMS messages, containing potentially sensitive financial or account information, are stored in the mobile radio terminal's memory. See Hawkes, U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,902.
In another drawback to prior art systems, a bank or financial institution, which is customarily in complete security control of all of its processes and regulatory obligations, depends on multiple parties, that may or may not take due care, during the completion of a transaction. Consumers, deeming banks trustworthy, may have no understanding regarding the number of parties with access to their personal information, or who may be processing, handling, or storing their personal information.
Currently, it is inconvenient for consumers to understand their account balances in real time, and to know when overdrafts may occur, or when consumers may deem it advisable to overdraft their accounts. In the current state of the art, banks and other financial institutions produce in-house evaluations and risk assessments regarding consumer balances and overdraft scores. See Simpson et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. US2007/0203827; Keiser et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. US2007/0100745. Consumers may or may not know that they are overdrafting in a situation and may or may not understand the fees to be incurred for doing so.
Additionally in the current art, it is most difficult to manage multiple financial accounts, or more specifically, parent and subsidiary accounts between family members or those with other relationships. See Dunn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,092.
Also in the current state of the art, transaction and data security can be premised on biometric authentication solutions, and more specifically, voice biometric authentications. Such biometric authentication is desirable at specific transaction or security thresholds, such as dollar amount, access to space, or access to records, e.g., medical or financial records. However, voice biometric authentication solutions available require mapping of ultra large datasets. See Manohar et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. US2007/0155366. Such solutions require vast amounts of database storage, require more time to complete search and comparison functions, and are subject to false and fraudulent biometric authentications, specifically, false positive voice biometric authentications from fraudulent recordings. See Schutzer, U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,091.
Also in the current state of the art, consumer handsets used for wireless financial transactions or other transactions or for access to sensitive information such as health care information, are set up for the consumer's preferences and tastes. Consumers and account holders also, may not keep their wireless accounts open, rendering their access to any executable software or SMS styled transactions schemes for which they may have registered, dubious. Consumers may also abuse their financial accounts and/or their access to those accounts.
Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a new and improved method and system for facilitating wireless transactions using a wireless device that overcome the above-referenced problems and others.